Can You Hear Me?
by rarmaster
Summary: a rewritten and expanded scene from KH1. more specifically, the scene that plays before the Riku 2 battle. something I did in my spare time. Focuses heavily on Riku's decent into darkness. Is Riku even still there? Nothing special, but a short read.


If you were at all like me, you had to watch this scene a lot because Riku was a pain in the butt to beat. if he wasn't for you, good, but this scene is pretty amazing. it is the scene that plays before the Riku 2 battle in KH1. I've basically just rewritten it, adding in Sora's thoughts.

* * *

His eyes fell on her almost immediately. She lay on the ground, asleep. "Kairi!" he called, and rushed to her side. He slid to his knees and put his hand under her head, cradling her to him. She was as limp as a rag doll.

"Kairi!" he said, shaking her gently. "Kairi, open your eyes!"

"It's no use." A voice said. Sora looked up. He knew that voice, and yet… there was something off about it. It was Riku, alright, but the voice of someone else had blended with his. Sora located Riku quickly, he was sitting atop the Heartless Emblem structure thing.

"That girl has lost her heart, she cannot wake up" Riku continued.

Sora set Kairi down gently, mind reeling. What was with Riku's voice? Why was he still in Dark mode? And did he just say 'that girl'? Even after all the things he had seen Riku do, he had never been this way toward Kairi.

"What?" he gasped, more to himself than anyone, and turned back to Riku. "You…" he said, getting to his feet. "You're not Riku." He stumbled the last words out, unsure if his statement was correct. But this definitely wasn't the Riku he knew.

Riku did not respond with an appropriate answer. "The Keyhole cannot be completed, so long as the last princess of heart still sleeps." He jumped off from where he was sitting and floated to the ground.

Sora turned to look at Kairi. "The princess…?" he asked slowly, looking at her. "Kairi's a princess?" he demanded, glaring at Riku, even though he knew it wasn't really Riku.

Riku landed lightly on his feet. "Yes," he replied. "And without her power, the keyhole will remain incomplete." He seemed so sure about this. "It is time she awakened."

Unsure of what to say concerning that, Sora fumbled for something else to say. "Whoever you are, let Riku go!" He demanded, hoping to get through to whatever was controlling Riku. He wasn't so sure how he'd convince it to let Riku go exactly, but he had to at least try. "Give him back his heart!" He couldn't just leave his friend behind.

Riku seemed to laugh. "But first," he said, "you must give the princess back HER heart." He swung his Keyblade at Sora with this statement. Sora gasped as a something in his own heart responded and clutched his chest, falling to his knees. It wasn't pain exactly, but it didn't feel right.

"Sora!" Donald called, but Sora didn't really hear him.

"What's-" he gasped.

"Don't you see yet?" Riku asked angrily, though the voice behind his almost seemed amused. It had been amused the entire time. It was just playing a game, whatever it was. "The princess's heart is responding." Riku slowly headed down the steps, his footsteps echoing eerily. "It has been there all along," Riku said, "Kairi's heart rests within you!"

"Kairi…" Sora gasped, still breathing heavily. "Kairi's inside me?"

"I know all that there is to know" Riku replied. His voice seemed a bit tentative about saying it, but the voice behind his stated it proudly. They were using Riku. Only using him. His emotions and thoughts drove only some of what he did. Whoever was behind him was TRULY in control.

Even if his thoughts were on Kairi, Sora could see that his friend was losing himself to the darkness. "Tell me," he gasped, hoping that whoever was inside Riku would respond. "Who are you?"

"It is I, Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness." Riku's own voice seemed a bit less tentative, and the voice behind his seemed quite proud. But this Ansem person was merely using Riku's emotions to fuel his own statement. Riku was truly losing himself now, whatever control he had before was slipping.

Sora could hear Riku's footsteps and could see him heading over. Donald screamed and charged, but was knocked aside by Riku, who didn't even look up from his original target. He stopped, and Sora could see Riku's feet in front of him.

"So, I shall release you now princess," Riku said, aiming his Keyblade at Sora. The voice behind his was stronger. Riku's own voice was determined, but it didn't sound like he knew exactly what he was doing. "Complete the Keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!" Riku's voice had only the same inflection as the voice behind his.

Riku raised his Keyblade to strike, and Sora wasn't even paying attention. His mind was worrying. Worrying for Riku, and for Kairi. What was going to happen to them?

"Sora!" Kairi called, and he looked up, just in time to block Riku's keyblade with his own. He glared, not at Riku, but at who was inside him.

"Forget it," he said. "There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!"


End file.
